Are the Prius prone to rust at the lower front edge of the front doors?

Both front doors on my 2017 are showing rust at their lower front edges. On the driver door, it even started to show from the outside. Is this common for the Prius to rust there? I took out the rubber grommet nearest to the edge, blasted some air and then applied Fluid Film in and out, hoping to slow down its progression.

I wanted to clean it better from within the door through the speaker opening but that speaker is riveted in place! What? Why do that! Anyway, that's the best way I found. Any tips to slowdown its progression even further?

Thanks

 

no to what? Prone to rust there or ways to slow down progression?

 

Ok, thanks.

 

Last year, I applied OSPHO on the inside of the door (riveted out the speaker to have access), removed the original caulking, cleaned it up, repainted it (only had a paint pen then) and applied a new caulking bead. The passenger side which only started rusting from the inside hasn't continued and looks rust free but the driver door is becoming worse. Rust is starting to burst on the outside I've bought Bondo, Blue Magnetism spray paint, cleat coat spray and clear coat blending spray. My idea is to remove all the rust, use OSPHO, Bondo the repair, sand, repaint the area, clear coat it and use the clear coat blending to 'blend' the new clear coat with the old. Waiting for the temperature to be milder. Because of the location, I might have to remove the door (or the fender, depending what's the easiest) so I don't damage the fender while working on it. Another reason why I'm putting it off lol.

 

Asking me or Rog17?

 

Yeah, in the Ottawa region, lots of salt. However, whenever I see a Gen4 parked Prius or Prime, I look down to see if there's any rust starting there and I haven't seen any. I'm thinking it's a manufacturing defect but with the rust warranty being so short on those cars, it's long gone so I have no recourse with Toyota.

 

Yeah, whenever I clean the bottom of the doors, I always have to reposition these flaps as they get crooked. I wonder if that could be the reason. The previous owner never repositioned them, defeating their use and water accumulated inside...

 

I did open the panel and that's why needed to remove the speaker, to access that area and yes, that corner isn't even accessible from the inside as it's a folded metal edge. I did bath it in OSPHO to try and prevent the rust from spreading to the inside. It has helped the passenger door which is no longer (so far) showing any rust but the front driver door was showing more rust to start with so I guess I'll try to fix it the best I can until a door becomes available in a nearby scrap yard, especially the same color so I don't have to repaint it. Yes, it might be a different tone but as long as it's not too much, it won't bother me.

 

So last weekend I decided to work on that panel.

I dremmelled away the rusted metal panel (so had a hole in the outer panel now and inner panel was rust free). To be safe, I squirted OSPHO in the remaining folded steel panel joint that hadn't shown rust yet. I applied Bondo over the hole sand it down, applied two coats of primer, applied three coats of paint, applied three coats of clear coat, wet sand the transition between new and old clear coat with 2000 grit sand paper and finished by polishing the panel.

I should have taken pictures of the steps but didn't think of it. This is the before and after look.



While I was painting, I also took the time to repaint the tow hook cover that the previous owner replaced but never painted it. Two primer coats, three base coats and three clear coats.